


Glitch

by CrazyNekoChan



Series: Soudam Week Summer 2018 [3]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Island Mode (Dangan Ronpa), M/M, Neo World Program (Dangan Ronpa)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-13
Updated: 2018-06-13
Packaged: 2019-05-21 17:37:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14919887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrazyNekoChan/pseuds/CrazyNekoChan
Summary: Everything seemed to be working according to plan. The Remnants of Despair were all connected with the Neo World Program and their avatars were being created, based on their past memories before they came to Hope's Peak Academy.However something was off.Day 3 of theSoudam WeekPrompt: Talent-Swap





	Glitch

**Author's Note:**

> This is by far the weirdest story that I've ever written
> 
> For the other swapped out characters I used the [Random Team Generator](https://www.randomlists.com/team-generator). The only two I didn't put in were Chiaki (who doesn't have memories to be swapped) and Twogami (it was simply to complicated with their talent and I had an uneven number)

Everything seemed to be working according to plan. The Remnants of Despair were all connected with the Neo World Program and their avatars were being created, based on their past memories before they came to Hope's Peak Academy.  
However something was off.

The members of the Future Foundation were able to see everything that happened inside of the Neo World Program, which was currently creating the fake Jabberwock Island on which the Remnants of Despair could live in and recreate their lives without despair. But somehow the picture was glitching out ever so slightly. The three members of the Future Foundation had nearly missed the glitches and they were only able to spot it thanks to Kyoko's trained eye.

Kyoko adjusted her headset that she was wearing and talked into the microphone. “Alter Ego, what is wrong with the program? Why is it glitching?”

At the mention of the name, the face of said artificial intelligence lit up on the screen with a pensive expression. “I'm not sure yet, but if my analysis is correct I think that it might be a virus that is trying to break the code of the program.”

“A virus?!” Byakuya looked shocked at the devastating news, “A virus could threaten the whole mission.”

Kyoko agreed with her friend. “Alter Ego, try to delete the virus immediately.”

“I'm already on it.” the face on the screen smiled, but then turned more timid and the picture had tears in their eyes, “But I can't promise if there not might already be some damage.”

“Don't worry Alter Ego, you can do it.” Makoto said into his own headset to encourage his friend. He believed in Alter Ego, even if they were only a program. They could do it and save the Remnants of Despair.

 

A few moments passed and the slight glitching seemed to have stopped. That or they were now too faint that the Future Foundation members weren't able to spot them any more.

“Did it work?” Byakuya asked and Alter Ego's face reappeared.

“I believe that I was able to delete the virus fully.” the AI answered, but their face was still tense, “But I can't calculate if any damage has been done. As far as I can see the world was successfully built, as are the two observation programs and all of the Remnant's memories were successfully downloaded onto the program, so we might be in luck.”

Byakuya turned towards his two friends. “It could be a risk to start the program.”

“I think we should still start it.” Makoto replied to the other's concern. “I believe that Alter Ego was able to stop whatever that virus was.”

Kyoko, who was in charge of the whole operation, fell in thought about what they should do now. Alter Ego had said that everything had been successful as far as they could see. Her eyes went towards the pods in which her former upperclassmen were currently sleeping and she could see their from despair broken bodies beneath the green glass lids. “I think we should try it now. We don't have much time and these people need our help. Alter Ego, if something did go wrong, how long would a restart take?”

“It would depend on the damage.” the AI answered in thought, “I would believe anything from a few minutes to a few days. But I can promise that our friends will be save during a restart, however I must also warn you that there might be some harmless side effects during the process, which again would depend on the possible damage.”

Kyoko looked at her friends, who both nodded at her decision and with this she gave her order, “Alter Ego, start the Neo World Program and as soon as you should find a problem, begin the restart.”

 

***

 

None of the students had any idea how they had ended up on this tropical island called Jabberwock Island, yet here they were on some kind of class trip. Most of his supposedly new classmates seemed just as confused as he was, yet they also just as easily accepted their new situation. It was the first time that Kazuichi had the chance to actually be on something like a vacation and if the price for staying in this tropical paradise was to become friends with his classmates then he would do it gladly. Though for some weird reason it itched in his fingers to inspect that weird talking rabbit with its magic wand and find out if it was a machine or not. Normally he didn't care for machines and the like, so this weird instinct came as a surprise to him. Maybe it simply had been his own curiosity, since he never saw something remotely like this rabbit? In the end it didn't matter as much, as long as that thing didn't turn out to be some monster that would force them all to kill each other or some creepy shit like that. The thought made him shiver and it was a good thing that it was ludicrous that something so stupid would ever happen.

 

After the rabbit had told them all about their objective on this island, all the students had first decided to disperse so that they could first look at the island and what it had to offer to them. All that they had seen at the beginning was the beach on which they had been standing and it would be a problem if they didn't have any shelter or source of food and would be required to provide all of this on their own. Kazuichi had no experience with building things and he had no intention with helping the others with catching some poor animals to eat. Tough looking around they had enough fruit to go by.

While exploring the so-called first island, Kazuichi happened to stumble across an old styled farm that looked like it was out of a picture book and in front of it were some animals running around on the fenced up yarn. Walking up towards the fence, he was able to spot cows, chickens and some goats, so they were at least provided with milk and eggs during their stay. The sight was especially pleasing for Kazuichi, so he happily went onto the farm itself to inspect the animals living there. Bending down he stretched his hands out towards one of the chickens, however before he was even able to reach it, it moved away from him.

“What the?” he mumbled to himself at the reaction of the animal, when he suddenly heard the clicking sound of what seemed to be a camera and so he quickly turned around towards the source. Behind him stood one of his classmates, a very short and plump guy with a camera in his hands. “Yes?” he regarded the other confused, “Do ya want to photograph the animals?” he then pointed towards the camera.

“Ah no. I photographed something better.” the guy said and winked at Kazuichi, making him back off slightly.

“Okay...?” something told Kazuichi that he didn't want to know so he changed the topic, “And you are?”

The small guy again winked at the other and took on a pose like he was trying to be smooth "My name is Teruteru Hanamura. On the streets, I'm known as the Ultimate C-” he suddenly stopped for a short moment, “I mean the Ultimate Photographer. A small slip of the tongue, but don't worry my tongue is normally way more skilled if you know what I mean.” Sadly Kazuichi knew what the other meant, but he tried to ignore it, “Since I know that you are burning to know, I will tell you my favourite things to photograph. It is... ehm..” again Hanamura turned quiet and he was in thought, “I guess nude art?”

This guy was a pervert and a scatterbrain, Kazuichi noted. “You guess?”

“A-Ah, I mean of course it is! I think that the circumstances that brought us here might have messed up my head.” Hanamura stammered nervously, but caught his composure again, “Anyway my lovely. Who are you and would you like to become one of my models?”

“No.” Kazuichi immediately declined the offer, “And my name's Kazuichi Souda. I'm the Ulti-” He was suddenly interrupted in the middle of talking by a loud, high-pitched shrieking. Both males indistinctively turned their attention towards the entrance of the farm, where two of their female classmates were. However one of them was for some reason lying on the floor in a highly compromising position and her body was wrapped up with a cable, while her underwear was on show.

“Please don't look!” the girl shrieked, however it was hard not to look and Kazuichi and Hanamura both blushed heavily at the sight. Within a breath Hanamura was all over the poor girl and was taking photos of her.

The other girl that was with her went in front of the photographer. “Like don't make any photos of Mikan, because Ibuki like need to check if she hurt herself, since I'm the Ultimate Nurse and all!” the upbeat girl with the multicoloured hair nearly shouted so loud, that Kazuichi suspected that she tried to make the whole island hear. Weirdly enough she didn't even mind the fact that Hanamura did take photos of the other girl and simply helped this Mikan girl stand up. “Ibuki will have you fixed up in no time! I will only need to... ehm... what does Ibuki need to do?”

“Check my back?” the other girl suggested while she tried to gather up the cables that had been priorly wrapped around her.

“Yes, right!” Ibuki replied and put her arm around the other girl, leading her somewhere else. “Then you can sing for Ibuki, since Ibuki loves musicians!”she added and then they were gone, Hanamura following the two girls with his camera.

Truth to be told, Kazuichi was somehow glad that they were now gone. His classmates were all behaving very weird. He was just about to turn back to inspect the farm and what else it had to offer, when he saw something moving next to his foot and out of the farm.

His eyes widening, he quickly followed. “Hey, come back here!”

 

***

 

This island on which they all have found themselves was quite peculiar. The sun was shining on the group of mortals, yet it did not burn. The sky was deserted of any kind of clouds and the occasional bird would cross the perfect blue sky above the realm called Jabberwock Island.

It was an unexplainable incident that has brought Gundham and all the other mortals into this realm, however if it was to be his fate to be on this island and fulfil the quest he was given, then so be it. He would master it with his unending powers and conquer this island in the name of the Tanaka Empire! However before he would be able to even begin his quest, he had another mission that he needed to attend to. It was of need that they explored the island to its fullest and reveal all its secrets that it hid from them. Before they could say with certainty that they would be able to survive on this island, there was no need for something so useless like exchanging pleasantries with each other. Gundham was the Overlord of Ice after all, so he had no need for the company of some worthless mortals and it had nothing to do with him not having any skill at holding conversations. He simply had a mission to fulfil, so he walked around the island and was regarding everything that he was able to find on his path.

 

The island seemed to provide the students with everything that they would need to live with comfort during their stay. Gundham had spotted a hotel with small cottages that seemed to be assigned to each of them, providing all of the students a private realm to which they could retreat to and rest. For a moment Gundham pondered if he should inspect his assigned cottage at this moment or wait for a later time. He had been curious, however it was something that could wait as he doubted that its interior would prove useful to any other than Gundham himself. Deciding that it ultimately could wait, Gundham turned around and was just about to leave the hotel to continue his exploration, when one of his new comrades, who was talking with two more mortals, spotted him.

“You are also in our class, correct?” the female mortal smiled towards him, trying to integrate Gundham into their conversation in a welcoming manner.

Guessing that he could use this opportunity and start to make acquaintances with the other mortals, Gundham nodded, “Of this I was informed by the being that calls itself our teacher. My name is Gundham Tanaka.”

“It is nice to meet you.” the female mortal smiled. “My name is Sonia Nevermind. I am foreign exchange student from a small European kingdom called Novoselic and during my time as a student of Hope's Peak Academy, I'm known as the Ultimate Traditional Dancer.” While her introduction was that of a usual mortal, it had seemed like she had been bothered at the last part of it, which struck Gundham as odd.

Next to her, a mortal with brown hair smiled in greeting. “I'm Hajime Hinata and I'm the Ultimate Gymnast.” Again the reveal sounded ever so slightly forced from the mortal and Gundham had some troubles believing that such such an unathletic looking mortal would carry the title of a gymnast. Yet during Gundham's cursed existence, he had seen things that one would call even more unlikely so it might still be possible what this mortal had stated.

The last of the group, a young man with white hair then introduced himself. “...I'm Nagito Komaeda and I'm the Ultimate Swordsman... At least, that's what I'm called anyway. Nice to meet you.”

As a warrior himself, this information caught Gundham's attention and it did explain the warp the mortal was carrying on his back. “You are a warrior of the sword? I admit that it does sound interesting. Do you have a preferred style of fighting?”

What Gundham had not expected was that the swordsman would laugh awkwardly and give such a response. “I don't know.”

The other two mortals seemed just as surprised at the revelation and the gymnast asked the question that they all had been wondering. “Wait... How do you fight, if you don't know how?”

Again the white haired mortal laughed, but this time he seemed disappointed about himself. “I'm actually not sure myself; how useless of me. I guess I fight with luck?”

While Gundham was aware that luck was also a vital factor in a combat, he had never met a master of any martial art that only relied on their luck to battle. His new allies were truly exceptional. Yet when he regarded them, they all had fallen silent as they were deep in thought about something that was deeply bothering them. Their conversation was at a standstill so Gundham gather that it might be a wise idea to retreat at this moment and continue his exploration, so that these mortals had time to gather their thoughts and defeat whatever was bothering them to such an extent. Wishing his goodbye, he continued on his way. It was only then that he noticed that he had forgotten to inform his new comrades about his given ultimate title. Not that it did matter much. If they wished to know, they were free to ask at a later date.

 

While walking, he came across an airport. “Did we arrive at this realm through here?” Gundham wondered to himself when he walked into the airport. Looking around it did not strike him as familiar and he was positive that he had never seen this building, so he guessed that they might have come by boat. Yet he also found this option unlikely as he could not remember seeing any port on this island.

“Further investigations might be needed.” he thought to himself and so he went outside to inspect the small planes that were parked on the field. Regarding them, they did seem to be fine yet he wanted to make sure, so he quickly looked around for some sort of ladder that he could use to reach the engine. After searching for a moment he found one that seemed to be high enough. Carrying it towards the plane, Gundham suddenly stopped.

For some reason he could not say where he should even look to deem if the plane is in working order or not, which was highly odd. After all he was the Ultimate-

“I said stop!” a voice suddenly shouted from the door and pulled Gundham fully out of his thoughts. At the same time he could feel something climbing up the garments that he was wearing, startling him even more as the screaming mortal.

 

***

 

This had never happened before that they didn't listen to him at all and that Kazuichi was actually forced to run after one of them like an idiot. He was led all over the first island, out of the farm, past some sort hotel and the beach where he and the others had found themselves earlier, and then all the way onto an airport.

“I said stop!” he shouted yet again, his lungs beginning to burn. He was out of breath from all that chasing around and since his eyes had been mostly on the floor to keep track, Kazuichi wasn't able to register the student standing on the field fast enough and so he accidentally crashed right into him, sending them both falling to the floor.

 

“Ouch...” Kazuichi sat himself up and rubbed his arm after it collided with the hard floor.

“You fiend, get off me this instant!” the guy in which Kazuichi accidentally ran into, complained and pushed Kazuichi back, who only just noticed that he had landed partly on the other teen and was still sitting on his legs.

“Ah, shit. Sorry.” Kazuichi quickly got off the other guy, who sat up and rubbed the back of his head.

“What were you fiend trying to accomplish with running around while staring at the floor like some lousy fool?” the student asked angrily after being run into and thrown to the floor. Kazuichi also suspected that the guy might now be in way more pain than Kazuichi himself was, since not only did he fall onto the floor with his back, but he also had another person fall on top of him.

“I was trying to catch my-” Kazuichi began explaining when he saw a tiny little hamster climb out of the other student's collar. “There ya are!” he exclaimed and tried to grab the hamster, who instead bit him, making Kazuichi winch in pain and pull his now slightly bleeding hand back. “Maga-Z, what the hell?! Why did ya bite me?!” What was wrong with the hamsters suddenly? They've never behaved this weirdly. Though Kazuichi guessed that Maga-Z got scared after they all fell to the floor.  
The guy looked surprised and his eyes went towards the tiny hamster sitting on his shoulder like it belonged there. “Maga-Z? What an excellent name for such a strong creature, if I might say.” he praised the name and began petting the tiny hamster's head, who surprisingly let him unlike with Kazuichi only moments prior.

“Ehm, you think?” Kazuichi was even more surprised at hearing this, than seeing the hamster letting itself be petted. “I don't even know why I called him that to be honest, but thank ya I guess.” That reminded Kazuichi of something and his eyes widened. Shocked he began patting around his clothes and it was then that he noticed movement next to him and the other student. “Thank god, ya buggers are all okay.”

Next to them sat three more hamsters.

“There are more of them I see.” the guy commented when he also spotted the three hamsters that were looking at him.

“Yeah. These four are my hamsters or Devas if ya like, San-D, Jum-P, Maga-Z and Cham-P.” Kazuichi introduced the four hamsters and pointed to each of them, before pointing to himself and grinning. “And my name's Kazuichi Souda. I'm the Ultimate...” he faltered for the shortest moment, “Breeder...” That was weird. Saying this sounded so unbelievably wrong to him for some reason, like he shouldn't be saying it at all. But he was the Ultimate Breeder, since he did exactly that, breed animals ever since he was small. Right?

Kazuichi had been so deep in his thoughts that he nearly missed that the other student began talking. “As you have informed me about the name that you carry, I might also reciprocate this gesture as the custom requires. You may call me Gundham Tanaka and I am also known by you mortals as the Ultimate Mechanic...”

Maybe it was the way that Tanaka's voice fell when he said his ultimate title, but something caught Kazuichi's attention when he heard it. Kazuichi began wondering if he might have heard about Tanaka or his title from somewhere else. He was aware that many people liked to talk about the new students of Hope's Peak on the internet so it might be possible he guessed.

 

Now that the two students had introduced themselves to each other, Tanaka carefully returned Kazuichi's hamster to its owner and he got up from the floor, brushing off the dust on his clothes and picking up a ladder. “I must now return to my duties and I advise you fiend to watch were you are going in the near future.”

The condescending way that Tanaka said it made Kazuichi growl quietly and he wanted to give the other a piece of his mind. However sadly the weird talking guy was correct with what he said. It had been Kazuichi who accidentally tackled him to the floor. Trying to ignore his initial rage, Kazuichi got up. “What were ya even doing here staring into space?”

“I was not doing something like that, I can assure you fiend that.” Gundham glared with embarrassment, “I was planning to inspect the functionality of this aircraft and I was determining where I should begin.”

It sounded weird for Kazuichi that an experienced mechanic should need to determine where to start looking. It should be obvious to Tanaka. Looking up at the plane, Kazuichi pointed at the hatch that covered the engine. “I would look there for starters.” Wait, why did Kazuichi know that the engine was there? He had never worked with machinery before.

“Ah, you are correct. I am impressed. I might will keep an eye on you and make you my newest apprentice.” Tanaka replied to this and leaned the ladder against the plane so that he could reach the hatchet, while Kazuichi wondered why the hell he should be the other's apprentice. He had already enough to do with his animals.

After making sure that the ladder was stable, Tanaka climbed up and when he reached the hatchet he froze, his eyes scanning the hatched in confusion. It was like the supposed mechanic had no idea how to open that thing up. “Are ya sure that you're an mechanic, because it doesn't look like it.” Kazuichi nearly laughed when he saw the other struggle with something so easy.

“Do not mock me mortal, after you own pet has fled from you and has bitten you!” Tanaka growled back, making Kazuichi flinch at the truth. “I am simply exhausted and hitting my head due to you is not helping.” Finally the mechanic managed to open the hatched and he froze.

“What's wrong? Again no idea what to do?” Kazuichi had a smug grin, yet the answer wiped it right off his face again.

“No, that is not it. This machine is missing its engine.”

“What?”

 

Kazuichi and Tanaka both checked the remaining planes that were on this island and just like the mechanic had stated, none of them had any engines and the students weren't able to find them anywhere on either of the islands.

Later that day all students gathered up in the central island after they were summoned by their teacher and after having a quick talk with her, the students exchanged informations about their findings. As it turned out, not only the planes were missing their engines but the boats too. The rabbit tried to reassure the students that they all would be brought back home as soon as they gathered the hope fragments. The rabbit then suggested that they all should spent some time together and maybe go swimming in the ocean. While most students agreed, Kazuichi and Tanaka included, none of them found it in themselves to really do much, no matter how much the rabbit tried to push them into having fun.

This whole situation was strange and wrong, and Kazuichi just couldn't place why that was.

**1%**

 

***

 

 

The students had spend a few days on Jabberwock Island and it had been absolute pandemonium. Gundham was beginning to suspect that this island was cursed, as whatever the students tried to do it always failed them despite them being the carriers of ultimate titles. The Ultimate Coach Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu had tried to assist the gymnast in his training one day, which had ended with Hinata nearly breaking his neck and ending up inside of the hospital. The Ultimate Swordsman Nagito Komaeda, who had been trying to train his swordsmanship the same day had also ended inside of the hospital after he had landed an highly unlucky hit on one of the training dummies and managed to break his bamboo-sword in half, which then hit him in the face. When the Ultimate Nurse Ibuki Mioda then had tried to heal them, she had nearly made their wounds even more severe.

To Gundham's immense shame it did seem like he had also been cursed as he nearly had managed to blow himself up one evening while he had been working on a car engine. To his luck no other mortal had been near him to get harmed and he himself had only suffered some minor wounds from the explosion.

However Gundham was sure that this was not all that was to this curse. It was even more malicious than he originally anticipated, as he was unable to get the pink haired animal breeder out of his thoughts ever since he had come to this island. Gundham was unsure why he was constantly thinking about that foolish mortal, however he did suspect that this was due to this fiend seemingly knowing more about Gundham's speciality than he himself did. For some unfathomably reason ever since the mechanic came to this island and began to struggle with his duties, Souda had been able to solve all the problems that the mechanic himself had been facing.

What made this phenomenon even stranger was that Souda had been struggling in the same way. Due to his title he had been assigned to care for the animals that lived on the farm and provided the students with a steady income of milk and eggs, yet Gundham had witnessed more than one occasion where the hellish beasts tried to harm the breeder and Gundham had been forced to intervene and stop them from injuring Souda. There was also the fact that the hamsters that Souda owned always ran away from him and ran towards Gundham, refusing to stay with their owner.

Due to these strange happenings Gundham and Souda happened to spend a lot of time in each other's presence and Gundham had to admit that he did highly enjoy the company of the mortal, despite them both being wary of the other and often ending up in banters after one showed themselves to have more skill in the field of expertise that the other praised themselves on.

 

**25%**

For endless hours now Gundham had been stuck with repairing the camera that the Ultimate Photographer Teruteru Hanamura used. The photographer had somehow managed to let his camera fall into the ocean and now it had suffered water damaged. In his desperation, Hanamura had asked for Gundham's skill and gave him the mission to repair the camera, while saving the photos that were stored on it. However Gundham simply could not recall how he would even begin this seemingly easy quest. Not to mention that he could no regain his concentration.

Signing in defeat, Gundham placed the camera onto his desk and he began massaging his temples to soothe an upcoming headache. This curse was ending him. If only he could free his thoughts so that he would regain his ability to fulfil his duties again, but whenever he just as much as looked at any kind of device the sharp toothed fiend stayed in the forefront of his mind, like the absence of the mortal was unnatural.

It was wrong. Everything on this cursed island felt wrong and Gundham's abilities were failing him due to this. Yet his mind kept on telling him that everything was fine and just like it had to be. These contradictions were beginning to make him wonder if he could even trust his own mind any more and the more the days passed, the more he began to question everything.

His eyes returned towards the camera that was still placed on top of his desk, next to a set of tools. The longer Gundham was regarding them, the less he felt like he belonged here. He did not feel like himself. Absent-mindedly Gundham's hands reached for his scarf and began feeling around and for a short moment he felt panic, like he was searching for something that he could not find. But there was nothing to miss.

Gundham had enough of this struggle. “This must be a curse and I must end it.” he said to himself out loud and got up from his seat. Leaving his private realm, Gundham made his way towards the mortal that had poisoned his mind. He would find out what was cursing this island and its inhabitants, no matter the cost of it.

**30%**

 

Stopping in front of the realm that the Sharp Toothed One had been assigned, Gundham rang the bell and after a few short moments, Souda opened the door.

“Hey Tanaka. Thought that it's ya since the Devas already ran to the door before ya even rang.” Souda greeted him with an exhausted voice, while the mentioned hellish beasts ran up towards Gundham and climbed onto his mortal form, taking a place in his scarf. Without thinking about it, he began petting them and it felt like something fell into place. “Anyway, can I help ya with something?” the breeder... – no that sounded incorrect to Gundham – Souda asked him.

“Indeed.” Gundham nodded, “I must speak with you about a matter that is bothering me ever since we have come to this island. Would you mind my intrusion into your realm?”

“Yeah sure, come in.” Souda shrugged and moved to the side, permitting Gundham entrance. Thanking the mortal, Gundham went into the cottage, while Souda closed the door behind them. “So what do ya wanna talk about?”

As it was a complicated topic that Gundham himself could not fully grasp, he decided to use a more simple approach. “This question might sound strange to a mortal like yourself, however I do need to ask if you feel like this island and our presence on it is amiss?”

“Ya mean except of us being here while no one remembers how we got here and that we have a talking rabbit as a teacher?” Souda asked in reply, as these were also phenomenons that still required an explanation.

“Yes, except of these unexplainable aspects.” Gundham crossed his arms and he kept his eyes on the main reason for his distress, “Do you feel like you are not yourself and that you should be someone else?”

The Sharp Toothed One stared at Gundham and blinked once and then twice before he regained his posture and was able to react. “What?”

“You can not tell me that you mortal do not find it amiss that you, or any one of the island's inhabitants, can not use their talent.” Gundham raised an none-existing eyebrow, making Souda tense up.

Pulling off the hat he was wearing, Souda began playing with it between his fingers, “Now that ya say it, it is odd. Ever since I came here I've been constantly attacked by the animals and I struggle to even think about what I should do with them, even if I spent my whole live with animals...” At the last part Souda's voice turned slow and monotone. “Wait, did I?”

**45%**

This was not the first time that Gundham had witnessed this slow reaction when someone on this island had been talking about themselves and he himself had experienced it too. However he had never questioned it until now. “Tell me, why are you questioning if you truly did spend you time with the hellish beasts?”

Souda began holding his head with one hand and his brows furrowed while he tried to concentrate. “Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm sure that I never had a pet since my dad didn't want one. But I also remember having a ton of them, which makes no sense.” He then gave a frustrated groan, “Fuck, I'm confused.”

“Did you maybe possess the hellish beasts secretly?” Gundham offered a possible solution for the confusion that the other was experiencing. It was not unheard off that young mortals would care of an homeless beast in secrecy from their parents, even if he could understand the reasoning of said parent. A hellish beast inside of a bike workshop might have caused problems to an untrained mortal.

This made the confused mortal shake his head, “No, they were at home. I know it.” While he did state his certainty about this fact, Souda did not sound in the slightest convinced about what he had said. It was more like he had been questioning a fact that he had to recite from a paper.

“Do you see now what I have meant, when I have said that this island is amiss?” Gundham asked the distressed male, who straightened up again.

“Yeah, I do.” Souda had calmed himself again and regarded Gundham. “Actually I've been questioning everything ever since we came here, but I just ignored it. Even when I told ya my title, if just felt off.”

“I must admit that I did also feel a sensation of incorrectness during that conversation, yet at that moment I was not able to tell why this was.” Gundham explained to the mortal and was trying to decipher the reasoning of their collective confusion and inabilities with their given powers.

**60%**

“Say Gundham, do ya think whoever brought us here messed with our brains or something?” Kazuichi asked and began to shiver, his eyes tearing up from fright like they often did.

“I truly doubt that some foolish fiends would be able to overpower me so easily and you of all people should be aware of this after all this time.” Gundham laughed at the foolish accusation of the mortal.

However Kazuichi did not fully calm again. “Well the school did mess with Kamukura's brain, so it might be possible, don't ya think?”

“He was an entirely different case, as he had been a weak mortal that gave into hi-” Gundham replied and suddenly stopped in the middle of talking as he realised something. “Wait, who is this Kamukura? I do not recall someone of that name to being present on this island.”

Again Kazuichi's face filled with confusion and distress. “Heck if I know. Maybe some guy from school or something?”

Gundham tried to recall the people whom he had met in the past. “I do not believe that we had shared a school with a mortal of that name.”

**75%**

“Are ya sure that maybe ya simply can't remember, since you hardly talked with anyone, Hamster-chan?” Kazuichi raised an eyebrow and he sounded slightly teasing with his question, “I mean Miss Sonia and I had to sometimes nearly force your awkward ass to socialise with people outside of class. But we are getting off topic here.”

“I did simply prefer to spend my valuable free time with you, instead of with some unworthy mortals.” Gundham was not, as Kazuichi called it, awkward. He was the great and powerful Overlord of Ice and tamer of the most hellish beasts after all. It was only that he did not see the need of socialising. “However you are correct that we are losing track of our objective. We need to discover the root of our unnatural situation.”

“But how?” Kazuichi asked and pushed his brightly dyed hair back in distress, letting his fingernails press into the skin.

This was a good question. They had no leads and Gundham knew for a fact that the being that call itself their teacher could not give them the answer. “I am not sure. I do fell like the answer to lift this curse is directly in front of us but I can not see the solution. Can you think off anything that might explain our situation, my consort?”

**90%**

“Never thought that I would get the chance to hear that again.” Kazuichi mumbled to himself with a sad voice, before catching himself again. “And no, I can't think about anything. I can only keep on thinking that everything feels weird. I mean even our conversation is weird as hell, but I don't know why.”

Gundham's brows shot up at what his consort said. “You are correct, our conversation is indeed strange.” Thinking back at what they have been talking about, nothing was how it should be. But at the same time everything what they have been saying was still correct. It simply did not fit together. It was like a puzzle which was still getting assembled as they spoke. Deep in thought, Gundham let his eyes wander through the room and he let them linger on the Four Dark Devas of Destruction. Whenever he had felt distress, his trusted warriors had been his guidance, ever since he had first helped them into this cursed world.

 

**100%**

In this moment Gundham's eyes widened as the last piece finally fell into place. In shock at the truth he just realised, he scanned the room again and saw how everything was already steadily breaking apart around him and Kazuichi. He had been correct with his suspicion that this island was not how it was supposed to be, but he could not say why it had become this wrong. When he had agreed to it, he had either suspected to live a normal life in this faux realm or fight for his survival and not that he would be ending up with faulted informations about his very existence.

At the same moment Kazuichi's eyes also widened as he had also noticed how the world was crumbling around them and he immediately ran to Gundham's side in fright. “Why the fuck is the program bugging out like this? I didn't agree to this shit.”

“I am also unaware of the reasoning behind this happenings.” Gundham pulled Kazuichi closer as he did not trust the breaking world and it's effect on the mortals inside of it. “However I am now aware that we had been wrong.”

A broken and distressed laugh left Kazuichi's mouth, as he grabbed hold of Gundham's arm. “Wrong is good. You seriously thought that ya were a mechanic. You can hardly use a computer, let alone work on an engine.”

Gundham turned his eyes towards the foolish fiend next to him. “Do I have to remind you about the many times where the hellish beasts have tried to end you and your pitiful attempts at taming them in these past days?”

“Says the guy who nearly blew himself up.” Kazuichi joked about the other's misfortune, despite him shivering with fear about the unknown. “Anyway, I think we are getting distracted here.” his eyes were glued on the breaking floor and the green numbers that were filling up the walls and furniture.

As the floorspace was turning more sparse, Gundham put his arms around Kazuichi and pulled him as close as it was possible, while said mortal held onto him. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see how the Four Dark Devas of Destruction also began to dissolve into coding and it saddened him to witness, even if they only had been a virtual copy from his mind. Shacking his head, Gundham decided to forget about these faux versions his memories had created, as he did not wish to feel any despair now that he was temporarily free of this wicked curse. He had his beloved consort back in his arms and this was real and all that had mattered to him.

The breaking world had nearly overtaken everything, surrounding them with a pristine white and only bits of the virtual island were left. The floor was nearly gone and they had nowhere to go any more. Not that it would have made a difference.

“I believe that this might be the end of our presence in this realm.” Gundham stated as he looked into the eyes of the man he held in his arms, watching him fade slowly. Lifting one of his own hands to inspect it, he was able to see that his own virtual form was fading away into the nothingness that this world had become.

Kazuichi was still shivering at the uncertainty of what was happening and why, yet he gave a smile. “Well maybe we'll be lucky and wake up now without feeling despair and still remembering each other.”

Gundham doubted this as the effect of their despair freed feelings were only an effect of this realm and he was sure that his consort did also not believe in what he had said. However they could hope, so he returned the smile. “That would be pleasant to wake up now and be reunited with you my paramour.” Even with his unearthly powers, Gundham could only just see Kazuichi. Lifting the other man's face gently, he leaned down to kiss him tenderly, hoping to wake up with him.

 

The last thing that he saw was an empty and lonely white.

 

**Restarting: Neo World Program**

 

***

 

None of the students had any idea how they had ended up on this tropical island called Jabberwock Island, yet here they were on some kind of class trip. Most of his supposedly new classmates seemed just as confused as he was, yet they also just as easily accepted their new situation. It was the first time that Kazuichi had the chance to actually be on something like a vacation and if the price for staying in this tropical paradise was to become friends with his classmates then he would do it gladly.

 

While exploring the so-called first island, Kazuichi happened to stumble across an airport and his interest was immediately caught. Grinning happily at the thought to being able to actually work on a plane, he ran into the building, only stopping when he spotted one of his classmates inside of it, who was playing with a bunch of hamsters.

Weird, he was somehow having a deja vu.


End file.
